Undefined
by Lukeprism
Summary: The story of a girl named Hilda and her very best friend. WhiteKnightShipping, deals with transsexuality and gender ideas.


**_A/N: writing while i'm sick probably isn't the best idea, but why waste this sudden spurt of writing will? i'm very invested in this ship, even if i am the only person on the planet who takes it even slightly seriously. this probably won't be a very long fic. i don't need any more of those._**

**_DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything here. I promise._**

**—s—t—a—r—t—f—i—c—t—i—o—n—**

Hilda didn't have many friends.

Part of that had to do with the fact that her hometown was small when she was little. Minuscule, even. Only a handful of children resided in said town, and even fewer that were her age. Her cousin, who was her age, lived further away, so they didn't see each other too often. She spent a lot of her days alone.

But she was okay with that. Because the one friend she did have was very special to her.

Lucy had always been the more passive of the two of them. Hilda would suggest something for them to do, and odds are she'd comply with few, if any, questions. That's not to say she wasn't interesting or fun to be around—quite the opposite. She was always very genuine, showing her emotion easily. She and Hilda were tomboys at heart—unafraid to get dirty, finding more enjoyment in the likes of sports and video games than in things like dress-up or playing with dolls. They got along well, and remained inseparable throughout their tweens.

"Lucy! You home? Let's go play basketball!" Hilda would yell, simply running by their front door, and Lucy would sprint out, following her down to the court in the park.

Even the best of things don't last forever, though, and looking back Hilda could see all of the signs she'd ignored, all the little things gone unnoticed by her brash, headstrong attitude. Lucy became even prettier the more she grew, as Hilda did, though this seemed to correlate with her overall demeanor as well—she didn't smile as much as she used to, she seemed more subdued around Hilda than usual, and dressed much more conservatively than ever before. As it turned out, Lucy's family was set to move away to the city in pursuit of her mother's new job.

All their things packed, Lucy was over at Hilda's house for one last visit. She seemed cheerier than usual, much to Hilda's relief.

Hilda brushed at her hair with a look of irritation, throwing her sideburns in front of her shoulders as she tied the rest of her locks up in a long ponytail. "Sheesh. It might be pretty, but all this hair sure is bothersome."

Lucy brightened up. "Yeah! I know what you mean!" She ran fingers through her own dark hair. It rested neatly on her shoulder. "I'd like it even shorter, but my mom won't allow it."

"I think that's a good length, though! It suits you," Hilda noted, pulling her hair out and patting the ponytail for good measure.

Lucy's silence was noticeable, and when Hilda glanced at her through the mirror her face had fallen. "B-but it is you hair! You should be able to do whatever you wanna!"

"If only. And she says she won't buy me any more t-shirts, either." Her cheeks grew as she pouted. "I don't like dresses or skirts—she knows that!"

"Yeah," Hilda sighed. They were a pain, too. Shorts and tank tops were always her first choice of clothing. "Shorts and regular old shirts aren't just for boys! Sometimes I'm jealous of how easy they have it, y'know?"

Lucy nodded vigorously. "Yep! It'd be nice to have been born a boy."

At this Hilda paused. "Well, I dunno about that. Boys are…different, I guess. I like being a girl, I just wish we didn't stress the differences so much."

Lucy was silent before she laughed. Her face was redder than usual. "Yeah, I guess you're right! Being a boy would be…" she trailed off, laughter dying rather suddenly.

"Yucky," Hilda finished, her intentions jocular. Looking over at Lucy, though, she noted how upset she seemed now. Hilda misattributed this agitation. "Oh, it'll be okay! Us girls just need to get out there and show 'em what for!"

Lucy only nodded, face still sullen.

After the last of their time together, their goodbyes were surprisingly brief. Hilda gave Lucy her number again—just in case—and reminded her to make sure to call her once they were settled in their new home. Lucy agreed, and they shared one last hug. Hilda watched, rather sadly, as their moving van drove away. Her mother assured that they'd call before the week was over, and they'd talk so much it'd be as if she'd never left.

Lucy's call never came.

For the first few weeks she was patient. Moving was stressful, and setting up everything could certainly take time. But the longer she waited, the more worried she became. Was everything okay? Surely Lucy hadn't lost her number? The reassuring stopped after the second month. Hilda knew by then that the call she was waiting for probably wouldn't come, but she waited in vain anyway.

Had she done something wrong? Her thoughts at that time were muddled—she couldn't remember having offended her friend in the time before her move. Maybe she realized that having a long distance friend wasn't worth it? That's not to say she couldn't have tried…it just didn't make sense. The girl she knew wouldn't do something like this.

She probably wouldn't admit it, but she cried. She cried a lot. Her family wouldn't dare bring it up, and she did it for a while. Now that she was more or less alone all day, there was nothing to distract her. Her tears were silent, hot and messy. Often times she'd cry about the fact that she was crying. It wouldn't solve a thing.

Eventually she pulled herself together. There was no use in pitying her own situation—if anything was to happen, she had to go out and make it so. And she did. She got involved with the community, and met a few friends along the way. She returned to being the strong, kind girl she'd always been.

But she never really forgot.

And fate has a funny way of bringing such memories back to the forefront of the mind. Three years after Lucy's departure, Hilda's mother told her that they would be moving away, to the same city Lucy had gone to. Of course the thought bothered her, but she played it off well enough—Hearthome would be a nice change of pace.

As much as she tried to avoid the subject, she couldn't help but think about the fact that she'd be in the same city as Lucy. That they might even run into each other again. Hilda offhandedly wondered how pretty she had become. Perhaps there'd be some genius explanation as to why they'd lost contact, and they'd become as inseparable as they once were.

Such wishful thinking was naïve, though, and that was one thing she'd abandoned in the three years since Lucy's departure.

As luck would have it, they'd moved just in time for the new school year to begin. This being Hilda's first time in a traditional public school, she was admittedly a bit nervous. But this was a new start for her, and she was confident she could keep her composure in such a setting. The school's uniforms irritated her, though—mandatory skirts for the girls. Lucy would have thrown a fit, no doubt.

Navigating the congested streets to get to school on the first day was troublesome—she barely made it on time. She found the right classroom and rushed to her assigned seat, exhaling as the bell rang behind her.

Their teacher was a thin, tan woman. She seemed pleasant enough when she announced she would be taking roll.

Hilda zoned out as she called out the names. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but public school wasn't as exciting as she'd hoped thus far.

"Luc…?"

When she half-heard that, she snapped to attention. Could it be? The surname that had accompanied the previous name was without about Lucy's.

"Here," called someone in front of her. Hilda squinted, but the voice had sounded…rather masculine. The figure that held their hand up had very short hair, though it was the same color as Lucy's had been—almost a dark blue. They wore a boys' uniform as well. Hilda raised an eyebrow. Lucy didn't have any siblings. Perhaps this was a cousin?

Hilda sat back in her seat, rather relieved. False alarm.

It wasn't long before her own name was called. "Right here," she responded, raising her hand skyward.

As she answered, the boy that bore Lucy's surname shot up visibly, shoulders tensed. Hilda watched him curiously. Did he recognize her name? He turned a fraction, to look at her, but she couldn't make out his features. After a moment he turned back, and didn't move again. Hilda shrugged it off.

The activities that followed made her rethink her mother's idea of sending her to school. They were painfully easy worksheets, things she had learned years ago on her own. Hilda breezed through them in no time, and sat with her face in her hands, bored out of her mind.

Eventually it was time for lunch. Some kids left the room, but a lot of them stayed, pulling lunches out of their book bags and rearranging their desks. Hilda had no one to talk to, so she watched on for a minute. The boy from earlier was getting up to leave. She figured now was her chance to ask something of him.

Approaching silently, she tapped him on his shoulder. "'scuse me," she said, and he froze up.

When it was clear that she wasn't going to leave, he slowly turned to face her. "Sorry for bothering you, but I had to ask you someth…" she began, trailing off as she saw his face for the first time.

His eyes were big and blue. His nose was small, and his face was more or less round. The dark hair didn't extend very far beyond his hairline. His stature was rather petite, and he lacked any sort of muscle. He looked…exactly like Lucy. Especially with the look of shock on his face.

"…ing. Yeah, ask you something. Sorry, you just look exactly like an old friend of mine," she continued, laughing her pause off. "I heard the teacher call your last name, and I was wondering if you knew a Lucy?"

It was another few moments before the shock on his face died down. "O-oh, is that all," he replied, chuckling as well. His shy smile was Lucy's as well. "Well…yeah. I guess you could say that I know her."

"Knew it!" Hilda raised a fist. "You must be cousins. I'm Hilda. We used to be best pals back when she lived in Twinleaf."

"Yeah," he smiled. "I know a lot about you. From back then, anyway."

"Oh? She talked about me?" Hilda was pleased. "All good things, hopefully."

"Of course! She isn't the type to say bad things about people."

Hilda laughed. "You're right. Anyway, sorry for interrupting you, but I don't have anyone to eat lunch with. Could I…?"

He beamed. "Sure you can! I just have to go buy a lunch. Do you already have one?"

"Nope. All I've got is cash, and I can't exactly eat that for lunch."

"Then we can go together."

"Good deal!" As they made their way out of the room, a thought struck Hilda. "By the way, I never did catch your first name."

He cocked his head toward her, grinning. "I go by Lucas."

**—e—n—d—c—h—a—p—t—e—r—**


End file.
